Networking your way to happier days…

Before you start wincing about being lectured about networking again, let me point out that it has a lot in common with blogging and other forms of enjoyable interpersonal activity.

It’s only scary until you do it successfully the first time

The more you do of it, the easier it gets

If you do it right, both you and the other person enjoy it

If you started out in a stable work environment, you might be a networking retard as I once was. I used to hear about networking and would think that was for insurance salesmen and others like them.

I knew I didn’t need to go through all that nonsense because I was a design engineer and had important work to do.

I didn’t learn about networking until I was laid off a few times and
it still didn’t sink in that I should network while I was still employed because I would get buried in work and would let my networking lapse time after time.

By the time I started my post-corporate life in 2001, I had finally
gotten the hang of networking and could do it easily and naturally.

My focus was no longer on getting myself a job, although I still
needed to work, because it had shifted to connecting people up and
helping people out as a way of life.

It had become such a part of my life that I was instantly drawn to blogging which is networking on steroids.

The fundamental point about networking is that it cannot be all about you!

To be a successful networker, you must have something of value to
exchange with the people you talk to. This can be information,
encouragement, or even helpful advice. The important thing is that what
you bring to the conversation must be valuable to the person you are
talking to and must not require a sales pitch.

0 Responses to Networking your way to happier days…

David is right on the mark on this one. I too have, in the past, neglected the amazingly fun and honorable ‘pass-time’ of networking. And, what I find is that the more I ‘network’ — which is just another form of saying that I keep in communication with the people I meet and connect with every day — the happier I am, the more Christmas cards I get, the more birthday greetings I get, the more cards, e-mails and gifts I GET to give and in general the more I feel like I’m alive and having a good life. For me ‘networking’ isn’t especially about calculating where I’ll get my next job, as much as it is about feeling like I’m creating and sharing my life. I like knowing that I have acquaintances, friends and supporters all around the world. Still, it can have definite benefits. Wouldn’t you know it, the last time I needed a job, I didn’t have to interview for it. I simply sent my resume’ to an acquaintance who I’d had some business with 15 years before, and she happened to be the equivalent of a Senior Executive V.P. in the company I wanted to work for, and she hired me! So networking is a lot of fun and sometimes has material benefits too!

Until now, most of my networking had been within a fairly limited geographical area, which expanded somewhat as people I knew moved out of state or to Europe. Now, I have a brand new networking challenge … I’m an attorney moving to a new locale where my network is sparce. I’m moving from Los Angeles to the Washington, D.C./northern Virginia metro area. If you are reading this and have contacts in businesses or corporations, the federal government or law firms that you wouldn’t mind sharing, please feel free to write to me directly at scottweible@hotmail.com. Thanks!

I’ve helped a few people (maybe 7 or 8) start blogs, but it doesn’t work for everyone. I think many who network well in other ways, just don’t “get it” with blogging. There are 2 essentials–1) have something to say, and 2) enjoy writing. They often don’t get past one or two entries. I have 8 blogs.